Saturday night Orioles game thread: vs. Mets, 7:05

As the AL-best Orioles take the field tonight looking to increase their division lead, there will be a bunch of former O’s on hand to remind them of their ultimate goal.

More than 20 members of the 1983 World Series-winning Orioles are gathering at Camden Yards for a special pre-game ceremony commemorating the most recent O’s championship. Baseball Hall of Famers Cal Ripken Jr., Eddie Murray, and Jim Palmer will headline the reuniting champs, along with Orioles Hall of Famers Mike Boddicker, Al Bumbry, Rick Dempsey, Dennis Martinez, Tippy Martinez, Scott McGregor, Gary Roenicke, and Ken Singleton. It’s going to be a good time, and a capacity crowd is expected at Oriole Park.

Four decades is a long time to go without a championship. There’s no time like the present to end that drought, and the 2023 Orioles certainly have the talent to do so. Thanks to last night’s blowout win, along with the Rays’ loss in Detroit earlier this afternoon, the Birds will enter tonight 2.5 games ahead of Tampa Bay both for the AL East lead and the best overall record in the American League.

Tonight they’ll go for a second win in a row over Buck Showalter’s Mets, and starter Kyle Gibson will be looking for his fourth straight quality start. Gibson has a 2.63 ERA in five starts against the Mets in the last two seasons, so that could be a sign of good things to come tonight. The Mets will counter with right-hander Tylor Megill, who has a 5.17 ERA and 10.1 H/9 in 15 starts this year. Expecting another double-digit run performance for the Orioles would be asking a lot, but this is a guy they should be able to hit.

Orioles lineup:

C Adley Rutschman
SS Gunnar Henderson
DH Anthony Santander
RF Ryan O’Hearn
1B Ryan Mountcastle
2B Jordan Westburg
LF Colton Cowser
3B Ramón Urías
CF Ryan McKenna

RHP Kyle Gibson

Mets lineup:

CF Brandon Nimmo
SS Francisco Lindor
2B Jeff McNeil
1B Pete Alonso
DH Daniel Vogelbach
RF Starling Marte
3B Brett Baty
C Francisco Alvarez
LF DJ Stewart

RHP Tylor Megill